Jesse Luketa

Jesse Shimbi Luketa (born January 15, 1999) is a Canadian professional football linebacker who is currently a free agent. He played college football for the Penn State Nittany Lions.

Jesse Luketa

Luketa with the Arizona Cardinals in 2022
Personal information
Born:	(1999-01-15) January 15, 1999 (age 26) Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Height:	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight:	252 lb (114 kg)
Career information
Position:	Linebacker
High school:	Mercyhurst Preparatory (Erie, Pennsylvania, U.S.)
College:	Penn State (2018–2021)
NFL draft:	2022: 7th round, 256th pick
CFL draft:	2022: 2nd round, 20th pick
Career history
Arizona Cardinals (2022–2025)
Career highlights and awards
Third-team All-Big Ten (2021)
Career NFL statistics as of 2024
Total tackles: 35 Sacks: 3 Forced fumbles: 1 Stats at Pro Football Reference

Early life

Luketa was born in Edmonton, Alberta,^[1] and grew up in Ottawa's Heron Gate neighborhood.^[2] He was raised in a single parent household by his mother, who immigrated to Canada from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.^[3] When Luketa was 14 years old, he enrolled at Mercyhurst Preparatory School in Erie, Pennsylvania, for his final three years of high school.^[4] Luketa was rated a four-star recruit and committed to play college football at Penn State from over 40 scholarship offers.^[5]

College career

Luketa played mostly on special teams during his freshman season.^[6] He saw more significant playing time as a sophomore, and made 24 tackles with four passes broken up.^[7] Luketa was selected as a team captain going into his junior year and finished the season second on the team with 59 tackles along with 2.5 tackles for loss, a fumble recovery and three passes broken up.^[8] Luketa played both linebacker and defensive end as a senior, and was named to the third-team All-Big Ten Conference.^[9][10] Following the end of the season, he declared that he would be entering the 2022 NFL draft.^[11]

College statistics

Penn State Nittany Lions
Season	GP	Comb	Solo	Ast	Sck	Int	FF
2018	5	7	5	2	0	0	0
2019	12	24	15	9	0	0	0
2020	9	59	31	28	0	0	0
2021	12	61	34	27	0.5	1	0
Total	38	148	82	66	0.5	1	0

Professional career

Pre-draft measurables

Height	Weight	Arm length	Hand span	40-yard dash	10-yard split	20-yard split	20-yard shuttle	Three-cone drill	Vertical jump	Broad jump	Bench press
6 ft 2+7⁄8 in (1.90 m)	253 lb (115 kg)	32+5⁄8 in (0.83 m)	10+3⁄8 in (0.26 m)	4.89 s	1.69 s	2.82 s	4.27 s	7.29 s	37.5 in (0.95 m)	10 ft 0 in (3.05 m)	17 reps
Sources:[12][13]

Luketa was selected in the final round (256th overall) of the 2022 NFL draft by the Arizona Cardinals.^[14] He was ranked as the #2 Canadian prospect ahead of the 2022 CFL Draft, where he was drafted in the second round (20th overall) by the Ottawa Redblacks as a territorial draft pick.^[15] He was waived by the Cardinals on August 30, 2022, and signed to the practice squad the next day.^[16][17] He was promoted to the active roster on September 27.^[18]

Following Week 16 of the 2022 NFL season, Luketa underwent dental surgery; upon learning about teammate J. J. Watt's retirement announcement, Luketa attempted to contact Watt (who was unaware that it was Luketa contacting him). Luketa, with cottonballs and slurred speech after surgery, sent a photo and voice memo to Watt requesting a signed jersey at the end of the season; both later joked about in the press.^[19][20]

In Week 5 of the 2024 NFL season, Luketa recorded the first forced fumble of his career in a win against the San Francisco 49ers as the Cardinals won 24–23.^[21]